Green Trinket Snake

1 Overview

The Green Trinket Snake (Elaphe prasina) is, as its name suggests, green-bodied and strikingly beautiful when at rest, like a work of art. It is distributed across India, Vietnam, and mainland China’s Zhejiang, Anhui, Fujian, Henan, Guangdong, Guangxi, Sichuan, and Guizhou. It is arboreal and is a Vulnerable species in China.

Chinese name: Green Trinket Snake

Binomial name: Elaphe prasina

Kingdom: Animalia

Phylum: Chordata

Subphylum: Vertebrata

Class: Reptilia

Subclass: Diapsida, Lepidosauria

Order: Squamata

Suborder: Serpentes

Family: Colubridae

Subfamily: Colubrinae

Genus: Elaphe

Species: Green Trinket Snake (E. prasina)

Distribution: India, Myanmar, the Malay Peninsula, Vietnam, and China’s Yunnan, Guizhou, and Hainan.

2 Physical Characteristics

The adult Green Trinket Snake is 1–1.5 m long, reaching up to 1.8 m. The entire dorsal surface is a vivid emerald green, very bright and beautiful, and hard to spot in nature, especially among trees.

The body and tail are slender, with the tail about two-fifths of total length. Adults are emerald green on the back; juveniles are green, with a long snout, large eyes, and round pupils; no loreal scale; 1 preocular and 2 postocular scales; temporal scales 2(1)+3(2); upper labials 8, in a 2-3-3 or 3-2-3 pattern; lower labials 10, the front 5 contacting the anterior chin shields. Dorsal scales 19-19-15 rows; ventral scales keeled laterally, 200–227; anal scale divided; tail pale brown with keeled subcaudals, 120–149 pairs.

3 Natural Habitat

Before buying a Green Trinket Snake, set up its habitat first. In the wild it likes hills and low mountains at about 200–1000 m elevation with forest; mimic its wild habits at home.

Keep it in a glass terrarium with a food dish and water dish, lined with sand and soil, ideally with a snake cave (a small flowerpot laid on its side, half-buried) and some branches, plus a thermometer (and ideally a hygrometer). The terrarium length should be half the snake’s length and the width a third; the top must be secured to prevent escape, as they are natural escape artists. The terrarium must ventilate—snakes are not demanding about air flow, but good ventilation is necessary. Size varies by species; arboreal species need a taller terrarium. Provide a water container both for drinking and bathing, large enough for the snake to submerge fully.

Do not leave the Green Trinket Snake in harsh sun or damp, cold places (keep the temperature between 18 and 30°C, with day-night variation under 6°C, except during hibernation).

Once a week, soak it a few minutes in 25°C water. On good days, take it out for sunlight to build condition. In winter, let it hibernate in an indoor terrarium covered with cloth. Keep relative humidity at 20–30% until it wakes in spring.

4 Care & Husbandry

The Green Trinket Snake is oviparous, usually laying about 5 eggs in August–September. Captive-bred individuals have a gentler temperament than wild ones, which are not only irritable but may attack people.

Elaphe species feed mainly on small mammals—birds, lizards, small mammals, or frogs. Those active near human dwellings or farmland mainly eat rodents such as mice, playing an important role in controlling pests; on the other hand, most elaphes are brightly colored and valued for display, and some larger species are heavily hunted for food.